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Xenomorph (Earth-9471)
The "xenomorphs", designated as A0-3959X.91 – 15 (Latin Linguafoeda acheronsis meaning "foul tongue from Acheron"), are a highly aggressive sapient endoparasitoid species that can quickly reproduce and grow through the infection or impregnation of other species with sufficient cognitive capabilities. With origins shrouded in mystery and uncertainty, xenomorphs reproduce by spreading its infection towards other organisms, hijacking their bodies and impregnating them with a Chestburster, which in turns is converted into one of the species' many specialized forms. By impregnating other species, xenomorphs become increasingly more intelligent, and because of their frighteningly rapid growth rate, they are effectively unstoppable. All xenomorphs share one single consciousness, which increases with each host it impregnates, eventually forming the ultimate xenomorph shared mind known as a Queen: a self-aware and incredibly intelligent entity which commands all other xenomorphs during outbreaks. Because of their group-like consciousness, the xenomorphs are better described as a single, trans-sapient macro-organism instead of individuals. When a Queen is not present, xenomorphs are only basically coordinated through the Feral Stage, where they seek to build more and more biomass through hives, leading to the creation of Proto-Queen and Queens in the Coordinated Stage. Xenomorph collective consciousness can only be described by humans as likening to a socialistic utopia, with each component of the species working to ensure their survival. History Origins unidentified species depicting a forerunner and a Facehugger emerging from an Ovomorph.]] The exact origins of the xenomorphs is shrouded in mystery and widely disputed, with numerous theories, more than often conflicting, being proposed as known. It is believed that the xenomorphs are not actually natural, but rather, an artificially engineering species meant to act as a biological weapon by another technologically advanced species, theorized to be the forerunners themselves and even the more ancient and mysterious precursors. This theory relates to the mysterious Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15. Evidence of their unnatural origin tend to be supported by the xenomorphs' biomechanical physiology and its perceived "perfection" by many individuals. Extragalactic in nature, other theories suggest the xenomorphs came from the Andromeda galaxy. [[Massacre on the USCSS Nostromo (Earth-9471)|Massacre on the USCSS Nostromo]] killing Samuel Brett.]] In June 8th, 2525, the human civilian freighter [[USCSS Nostromo (Earth-9471)|USCSS Nostromo]] returned from an operation at Thedus when it received a mysterious communication coming from the natural satellite Acheron, in the Zeta Reticuli system. Upon landing, crew members Arthur Dallas, Thomas Kane and Joan Lambert stumbled upon a derelict ship stranded on the planet. After an inspection, Kane discovered a room that was previously sealed, and when he entered, he was attacked by a Facehugger. While Ellen Ripley insisted that the crew followed the security protocols, the science officer Ash, secretly a synthetic sleeper agent sent by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, planned to take the creature, as the company knew about the nature of the signal all along. The act culminated into the death of all but one of the crew members, Ripley, who was able to combat the resulting fully-grown xenomorph that took out the crew one by one. During her survival, she also came across a Proto-Keymind, which she was successfully able to kill. However, her escape left her stranded in the shuttle ''Narcissus'', which had no Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, thereby forcing her to travel at superluminal speeds in the hopes of being encountered. [[Skirmish on Sevastopol Station (Earth-9471)|Isolation on Sevastopol Station]] roaming through Sevastopol Station after killing another colonist.]] On December 10th, 2547, Henry Marlow, the captain of the salvage vessel ''Anesidora'' arrived at Seegson's Sevastopol Station, requesting medical attention to his wife, Catherine Foster, who had been impregnated by a Facehugger. After Dr. Kabira Lingard, head of Sevastopol Station's medical staff, attempted to remove the creature, she was blackmailed by Ben Ransome of Chief Operations to tell him about the alien. Ransome then convinced Marshal William Waits of the CMB to skip the routine quarantine after finding the flight recorder of the Nostromo. This led to a Chesburster hatching from Foster, who escaped through the station and grew, killing every human and Working Joe through its way. This was only averted with the arrival of Amanda Ripley-McClaren, who worked alongside Marshal Waits to trap the massive xenomorph in a shuttle to separate it from the station and send it towards the gas giant KG-348, killing it. Survival on Fiorina 161 preparing to attack Ellen Ripley.]] On July 19th, 2552, Ellen Ripley and the other survivors of the outbreak on Paraíso were jettisoned from the UNSC Sulaco in a Class-3 Bumblebee, following an attack by a Facehugger that led to an electrical fire in the cryosleep compartments, crash-landing on Fiorina "Fury" 161, which led to the deaths of both Newt and Hicks, leading Ripley and a heavily damaged Bishop as the only survivors. Unknown to them, a Facehugger had emerged from the Bumblebee and impregnated Spike, a guard dog at the Fiorina 161 Class C Work Correctional Unit. During the funeral for Hicks and Newt, xenomorph emerged from Spike and matured, starting to systematically kill the facility's inmates and leading to mass hysteria. Ripley organized the prisoners to defeat the creature, but a plan involving explosives to kill the creature in the ventilation shafts backfired and killed most inmates. A Weyland-Yutani Umbrella Security Service, led by Michael Bishop, arrived to rescue Ripley from the planet after being contacted by Francis Aaron. Bishop attempted to convince Ripley to turn herself to ONI so they could extract the Keymind embryo that resided within her. As she did not trust Bishop, Ripley chose to sacrifice herself in order to kill the Queen Chestbuster to keep the company from getting their hands on it. She did so, throwing herself into the ground and killing herself. [[Skirmish on the USM Auriga (Earth-9471)|Panick on the USM Auriga]] xenomorph being studied by the Dr. Jonathan Gediman aboard the [[USM Auriga (Earth-9471)|USM Auriga]].]] Despite the previous failures and eventual downfall of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, that did not stop their ambition to acquire the xenomorphs to fade away In 2613, the United Systems Military started a secret program aboard the [[USM Auriga (Earth-9471)|USM Auriga]], where they sought to clone Ellen Ripley and the Keymind that was incubating within her. After seven failed attempts, which led to numerous monstrosities, the USM changed course and resurrected Ellen Ripley herself under Project Lazarus, finally acquiring the Queen. They had the smuggling human mercenary freighter ''Betty'' deliver them a series of convicts on the death row to the Auriga ''on September 17th, 2613, where they would be used as hosts to test the weaponization of the xenomorphs. The xenomorphs were eventually able to escape, killing most of those aboard the ship despite General Martin Perez's best efforts to secure the ''Auriga's crew. Minutes before the outbreak, the ship's shipboard artificial intelligence White Queen had set a course for Earth for the Auriga to be docked, which would unleash the xenomorphs on the human homeworld and lead to a massive outbreak that could extinguish humanity. Alongside Ripley, the surviving members of the Betty, the surviving Marine Vincent Distephano, the USM scientist Dr. Mason Wren, and the convict Larry Purvis fought against numerous xenomorphs on their way to reroute the ship to explode before it reached Earth's surface, to kill the xenomorphs and prevent an outbreak on the planet. Biology Xenomorphs are primarily solitary predators, but they are fully capable and willing to adopt swarm tactics when larger groups are formed. Even though they are highly voracious and can easily kill their enemies, xenomorphs prefer to let their victims alive in order to be used as incubators for Facehugger Chestbursters or to infect with Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15 to create clickers. Victims can also be taken to hives and their biomass used to generate a Proto-Queen. If their targets are deemed unsuitable for either infection or impregnation, however, xenomorphs do not hesitate into quickly killing their chosen host. They are extremely resilient, being capable of surviving under extreme conditions which range from -75 to +53 degrees Celsius, as well as underwater, effectively being able to withstand the varied environments of all known inhabited planets through the Milky Way galaxy. They are, however, able to proliferate and fare better on moist and humid environments. Xenomorphs will transform the environment surrounding them to better suit their needs, altering the atmosphere of a planet and converting into more of their biomass. Anatomy and physiology Warrior.]] Xenomorph height is varied between 8' 3" (251 cms) and 8' 8" (264 cms), while their weight average from 299 lbs (136 kgs) to 399 lbs (181 kgs). Xenomorphs will alter their physical appearance upon development or host, sporting different characteristics depending on the species they are infecting or impregnating; this ensures the adults are suited for the environment. This ability occurs at a cellular level under the Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15, also known as "Purity", called the DNA Reflex by xenoanthropologists. Most xenomorphs encountered are gestated from the bodies of humans, and therefore they adopt bipedal stances, despite the existence of other variants that have been rarely found, from creatures and animals. Despite the differences of the host species, the xenomorphs still preserve core traits found in all variants. Xenomorphs have a skeletal, biomechanical characteristics, which some theorize means they are an artificially created species, being either black, grey, or bronze-skinned, and no matter the host organism, all variants possess elongated, cylindrical skulls, with no facial features outside of their mouths. Their head possess a distinctive carapace, which can vary, from smooth and translucent to opaque, believed to be part of their maturation process. Because of the DNA Reflex, the flood can appear in both plantigrade and digitigrade forms, according to their host; for example, human, jiralhanae, unggoy and san'shyuum spawned xenomorphs will possess humanoid hind limbs, while flood spawned from sangheili, kig-yar, yanme'e and other animals, will possess hind legs. The primary weapon of adult xenomorphs is the inner pharyngeal jaw, a piston-like tongue with a secondary set of jaws inside their mouth. It is powerful enough to break through bones and metal. A common xenomorph killing strategy is restraining its victims with their hands and immobilize them before giving a precise jaw strike directly to the head, piercing the skull and penetrating the brain, known as a "headbite". They also have segmented and bladed tails, which varies in size, from small to flat, which make deadly potent weapons capable of impaling and lifting adult humans. They possess dorsal tubes on their backs, consisting of two pairs, whose purpose is unknown. Impregnation diagram showing the Facehugger impregnating a human host.]] To reproduce and grow their biomass, xenomorphs impregnate, infect, and assimilate other living beings, both sapient and non-sapient, and, despite their capability of using nearly all organisms as hosts, they take preference with the former, as the cerebral tissue of their victims allow them to develop advanced intelligence. The initiation of a xenomorph outbreak begins with contact with either xenomorph spores or Facehuggers, the latter which are the most complex variant create by the species during their Feral Stage. After seeing a potential host, the Facehugger will jump to its victim's face, rasping clothing and flesh, whereupon it renders the victim unconscious and impregnates them with a Chestbuster. After two minutes, or several hours depending on the stage of the xenomorph, the Chestbuster violently erupts from the host's chest, killing them immediately, and rapidly matures into another variant, shedding its skin and growing, while replacing its cells with polarized silicon. Because of the DNA Reflex, the horizontal gene is transferred from the host to the xenomorph during the gestation period, making the adult xenomorph inherit basic physical traits of the host. Impregnation is not limited to living beings, as deceased organisms can also become infected, as long as the body has not decomposed to the point of the nervous system deteriorating, Facehuggers can still inject Chestbusters to the body. Using the victim's biological content as a template, the adult xenomorph keeps the memories of its victim intact through isolating the cognitive capability of their brain. Despite the high efficiency of Faceguggers, xenomorphs can also infect others through the spores, that, if inhaled, transform a host into an Aggressor or other variant, becoming the primary mean of spreading when an infection has reached the Coordinated Stage. They are tiny, and are deployed in a biosphere in large quantities, overwhelming unprotected targets. Neurological and psychological Facehuggers selectively attack and impregnate sentient species, being able even to infest intact, wounded, or dead bodies. When Facehuggers attach to the face of their victims, they synchronize with their hosts' nervous system to gain complete control over their motor functions. Any useful information found within the host's memories and brain are then forcibly "taught" by the host to the Chestbuster through the Facehugger, including technical expertise and battle strategies. However, no actual trace of the original mind of the victim remains on the fully grown xenomorph, but merely a very simplistic and intrinsically feral urge to attack and harvest others for infection. These memories and experiences are added to the xenomorphs' whole, being assimilated by the Keyminds and Graveminds. When xenomorphs are seeking for very specific information in the mind of a host, they use other methods of harvesting, which do not completely subdue the consciousness of their host, even though they are mutated into Proto-Keyminds. The method sees the xenomorphs "burrowing" into the minds of their hosts, which allows them to have an access over all of their victim's memories. This method was utilized against Captain Arthur Dallas, who describe the sensation of the method as being "akin to a rape". Keyes, as a Proto-Keymind, recalled memories from his childhood, his love life, his fatherhood, the location of Earth, and the location of any vessel that could lead them away from Halo to infect other worlds. After the xenomorphs have acquired enough hosts and biomass to form a Keymind, they reach a coordinated behavior that makes their species much more intelligent. The Keymind is able to telepathically speak to its xenomorph forms, ordering them to fight in unison. Metaphysical and technological Although the xenomorphs are biological and biomechanical, as they evolve and reach maturer states, the species transform into a self-replicating swarm able to harness any kind of mechanism to ensure its own survival. Sex The biological sex of the xenomorphs is a heavily debated topic, although it is preeminently proposed they are hermaphroditic, much like the mgalekgolo and the huragok. Some refer to individual xenomorphs by an attributed gender, such as is the case of the Queens, referred to as female. Diet Although little is known about xenomorph diet, the make-up of their blood leads credence to the theory they do not require traditional sustenance like other species. Some engagements between the UNSC, the Covenant and xenomorphs discovered that xenomorphs would sometimes eat potential hosts if the situation was dire. A fact is that the forerunners discovered xenomorph can generate energy high enough so support the species in low or moderate activities, although it did not rule out the possibility of other food sources. Development stages Xenomorphs undergo four different stages in their development, which they call 'evolutions': *Feral Stage: Consists at the xenomorphs at their most simple, as they are only able to communicate with each other through pheromone secretion. They are sapient, although in a level similar to that of the yanme'e, and are instinctively led to harvest more victims to establish a Keymind. *Coordinated Stage: This stage is only possible with the creation of a Queen, who is able to control all xenomorphs from the first stage alongside new xenomorphs it can form without hosts. This stage marks the Keymind's focus to gather even more biomass and intelligence to become a Gravemind. *Transgalactic Stage: A final, theoretical stage, where the xenomorphs use all of their captured technology to depart from the galaxy and spread over other galaxies to ensure their continuing existence. Life cycle The xenomorphs have a complex life cycle with distinct ages. They start their lives as an Ovomorph, which can be generated either from a Gravemind, Keymind, or a host. These Ovomorphs hatch larval parasitoids known as Facehuggers, which will attack and impregnate any nearby sentient to deposit an embryo known as a Chestburster. Following the gestation process, which range from hours to minutes to mere seconds, which depends on the xenomorph's stage, the Chestbuster will violently erupt from the chest of its host, leading to the host's immediate death. In another period that can widely range in time depending on stage, the Chestbuster will mature into an adult after replacing its cells with polarized silicon. These adults can fulfill specialized roles, such as Drones and Warriors. As a result of the DNA Reflex, horizontal gene transfer will occur on the adult xenomorph, leading them to possess some of the physical traits of their hosts' species. Once advanced enough, they can evolve to Keyminds and Graveminds, which in turn can freely create new xenomorphs without the need of a host. Notable hosts *Anne Ashford *Catherine Foster *Ellen Ripley *Larry Purvis *Dr. Charles Ashford *Spike *Thomas Kane *William Hudson Category:Earth-9471 Category:Species of Earth-9471 Category:Species Category:Races Category:Created by Draft227